So sometimes owning a great old car is not fun. It can be quite stressful and expensive because the things you had planned to fix when it was convenient start to fail when it is really inconvenient to do so. This is where I found myself this week with my brand new 2003 Porsche 911 Carrera, but luckily I have a good mechanic.
Now, I don’t know if you’ve noticed the weather lately, but we’re having a hell of a lot of rain in California. While this isn’t really a problem for most cars, for a 996 with questionable ignition coils relatively unprotected and a few inches off the ground, it can cause damage. incident occurred. Here’s the thing, though, I know I need to do this work thanks my PPIso I ordered parts from FCP Euro.
By problems, I mean I found myself trying to drive my wife to her place of work during one of the recent torrential downpours we had in normally sunny Southern California. During this one stretch of drive, I kept getting the wrong ignition, which I was aware of from the flashing check engine light. I managed to limp home the very unhappy car and scan the OBDII code, which confirms the ignition failure and also tells me they are all on the same cylinder line. I also get the catalytic converter performance code on that same cylinder line, which is worrisome.
The solution, at least to begin with, is to replace the coils and plugs, and I was planning on replacing them last weekend because it wasn’t a big deal, just an inconvenience. Unfortunately, as an elderly resident of Jalopnik in his late thirties, I’ve managed to completely screw up my spine by stooping down to pet a cat. Stupid, I know, but “live by the sword, die by the sword,” as they say.
This is why it is important to get yourself a quality mechanic. If you have a Porsche and don’t have the money for a dealer, it’s important to find a good independent mechanic you can trust. I’ve used Auto Werkstatt for some larger work, but the reality is they’re up to an hour’s drive from me in terms of traffic, so finding someone closer to pick up stuff is important. Of course, having a good mechanic isn’t just about Porsche; that’s key when you own any old car.
Pasadena, where I live, has a lot of Porsche stores, which is odd, since it’s not a big city, so I have a lot to choose from. One of the most highly rated independent Porsche-specific shops in town is a place called car house, and they’re only a 10-minute drive from my modest home. So realizing I wouldn’t be able to plug and wind myself any time soon, especially since it was about to rain more heavily and that cat code loomed, I phoned House, and they were able to give My car is in there. day.
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Now, before you throw your lot in with just any mechanic, you should try them out. My method for doing this has been to send my car in for something that is low-risk and low-cost. If the shop treats you well on that job – mine with House was an oil change and a reverse light switch a few weeks ago – then the odds are good that you’ll still be treated well when spending more money.
The crew at House did a killer job on the little stuff, so trusting them with my car for something a little more involved was no big deal. Another mark of a good shop, at least in my experience, is that the shop was clean. There weren’t piles of parts and trash everywhere or a thick film of shmutz on everything, which says that they’re likely to be at least as meticulous with my car as I would be, which is reassuring. Finally, the shop offers a discount to members of the Porsche Club of America, known for having somewhat anal retentive members, among which I count myself, so bonus.
They were also kind enough to let me bring my own parts, which is typically not something that shops will do (and I don’t recommend you do that either, especially if you’re not really good at ordering parts). Still, since I already had the parts on hand, this was a way to save a little cashish on an unexpected repair, though it did mean that the shop wouldn’t warranty the parts if something were to go wrong later. It’s a roll of the dice, but I always order high-quality OEM parts and double-check not only the boxes that the parts come in but that the parts are the right ones for those boxes.
So, after a couple of hours of sitting in House’s waiting room and working from my laptop, my car was finished. It ended up being a good thing I brought the car in for this job because a previous owner or mechanic left part of their magnetic spark plug socket in one of the plug wells, and it took some effort for the guys at House to get it out along with the old plug. Knowing me, I’d have spent a considerable chunk of time swearing, and the air in LA is dirty enough without me spewing curses into it.
Now that I was a few hundred bucks lighter, the last thing to do was to take the 911 out for a real rip to see if the misfires or the catalytic converter codes came back, and, blessedly, they haven’t. The car runs smoother than ever, and I suspect that I may even see slightly better fuel economy from the big flat-six.
The moral of the story is that sometimes, even if you like doing work yourself on your car, either your skill level, time availability or something else can get in the way, and you’ll need to take your vehicle to a pro. Spending that money is never fun, but it’s not a sign of failure, and if you find the right mechanic to build a relationship with, it can save you money in the future if they spot something you didn’t know to look for.
